Kootenai County sales lead Spokane
Those of you who also read the other newspaper in the region, read on Monday that the Spokane area experienced a 20 percent increase in January housing sales when compared to last year. That is terrific news!
As those of you who regularly peruse this column will recall, what happens to the West happens here eventually. Or does it? We have explained "the roll," which for us starts in the San Francisco Bay area, then travels up the coast to Seattle and then east toward Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.
Now, we see property values increasing again in many parts of the country, and in the West, improving the eroded values that the crash of 2007 - 2008 for most parts of the country - brought to us. Our market didn't crash until late 2008. So the adverse influence also has a lag. That prices and purchases of homes in those influential areas have improved has not gone unnoticed by your local, Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors, especially since we appear to be outpacing Spokane, at least early in the year.
It is interesting to note the observations of Jan Quintrall, the city of Spokane's Director of Business and Development Services who noted in another recent article in that other paper, "A lot of people grab a rental car at the airport and drive straight through to Coeur d'Alene. We need to give people a destination so they can come downtown more often," (downtown meaning, of course, Spokane).
That propensity to bypass Spokane could explain why our Kootenai County sales figures reflect a 22 percent increase in number of sales over last year. Not 20 percent, but 22. That means that people are following the "roll" but for any number of reasons, many are overlooking Spokane in favor of North Idaho. Just because our percentages outweigh our overtaxed brethren to the West does not mean that we outperform them in total numbers. However, given Spokane County's population of an estimated 473,761 persons according to the 2010 Census, we are doing fairly well given our estimated population of 141,132 persons.
In Spokane last month, they reported 248 sales of single family residences according to the article.
We, in Kootenai County reported just 169. Not a bad showing for a marketplace that is roughly one-third the size. It seems that many folks, like those of us who call North Idaho home, are escaping the Cityscape - even small cities like Spokane - for a quality of life that is unequaled in areas of greater population density. That seems to apply all down the line. Many consider Coeur d'Alene too populated for their liking. We have predicted that, as properties are absorbed in our own more densely populated areas, our rural communities would begin their ascent. We are happy to report that our Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service production totals put our entire area over 16 percent ahead of last year's production.
It appears that "the Roll" is well under way. Although we are not predicting a tsunami like the feeding frenzy of 2004-2007, we are willing to bet on a stable and improving market this year. Like that frenzied period, many of our members are reporting increased activity from California customers and many "wet-siders" from the Seattle area. No doubt, as prices increase in their areas, our prices become more and more attractive.
Buyers of view property have usually found our prices attractive, but with our several years of declining prices and their sudden price improvements, we are once again a more than attractive alternative when compared to a view of a waterway just off a congested freeway. A million dollar view in Seattle may be acquired for less than four hundred thousand, without the freeway noise, here in North Idaho.
For now at least, we appear to be in full recovery mode although admittedly, it is with caution we make this prediction. If this recovery brings the jobs we so desperately need, we can look forward to a sustained recovery and a bright future in real estate.
Trust an expert....call a Realtor. Call your REALTOR or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a REALTOR member who will represent your best interests.
Kim Cooper is a real estate Broker and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORS. Kim and the Association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORS, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling 208-667-0664